Deviated Septum....or...Balloon Sinuplasty - Page 2

Katrin B · ‎03-27-2010

I had the Ballon Sinuplasty done a couple of years ago in conjunction with "roto rooting" my turbinades. The procedure was an outpatient surgery, face somewhat bruised.

I have been breathing much better since then.

All my life I have had sinus infections because my sinuses never properly drained.

The ENT ( they now call them Head and Neck Surgeons were I am) also told me that I have a somewhat deviated septum. So far I have not done anything about that. Not planning to either. I think they can do both procedures at the same time by the way.

Good luck with your decision making, I hope you will get some relief.

tsavorite · ‎03-09-2010

@Katrin B wrote:
I had the Ballon Sinuplasty done a couple of years ago in conjunction with "roto rooting" my turbinades. The procedure was an outpatient surgery, face somewhat bruised.
I have been breathing much better since then.
All my life I have had sinus infections because my sinuses never properly drained.
The ENT ( they now call them Head and Neck Surgeons were I am) also told me that I have a somewhat deviated septum. So far I have not done anything about that. Not planning to either. I think they can do both procedures at the same time by the way.

Good luck with your decision making, I hope you will get some relief.

@Katrin B thanks! This is what confuses me....I don't get sinus infections so perhaps that means this Balloon procedure is not a thing that would be recommended to me. But then I think if I supposedly have 95% blockage deviated septum then shouldn't I have had issues long before my age now?

Just thinking out loud here LOL....I know nobody has these answers on the forum...I am just praying GOD will make it clear to me thur one of these doctor appt's what is truly causing my sleep issues so I can make good choices.

on the bay · ‎03-09-2010

@tsavorite-

I never had problems with breathing up until a few years ago.

So if I always had a deviated septum and other problems I didn't know it before.

I don't know why this happens, but another good question to ask.

So in contrast to what some have claimed, I think we can get this problem much later in life. I don't know why.

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"

CinNC · ‎10-05-2012

I used to wake up with blocked nasal passages. I have tons of allergies - cannot use a down pillow and am allergic to wool also. The BF's heavily shedding dog does not help either. It stopped after I started using my cpap machine. One doctor I saw mentioned a deviated septum.

LOL - I think I may have come out of the womb w/a crooked head...one eyebrow is also higher than the other, and my bite was off on one side.

It's really tough when you get different opinions from physicians.

SandPiper · ‎06-04-2017

@tsavorite Your issues sound so much like DH. He is always tired. No matter how much sleep he gets, he feels like he hasn’t slept at all. He needs to have a sleep study but with working so many hours he is putting it off. I keep telling him it’s his schedule, he tells me it’s not.

Anyway, about 12 years ago he was told he had a deviated septum and had the surgery. Not fun!!! The ENT told him it would help him sleep better. Well it didn't. But it did stop his snoring. For me that was a good thing.

I know I’m not much help but what I will do is pray for you. Hope you get to the bottom of this.

Sometimes the strength within you is not a big fiery flame for all to see. It is just a tiny spark that whispers ever so softly "You Got This - Keep Going"

Eileen in Virginia · ‎08-25-2010

As others have said, you need to see an ENT specialist to figure out what’s going on. DH has had allergies ever since I met him in the 1970’s. Throughout this time, he’s been getting allergy shots which helped somewhat, but not entirely. About 8 years ago, his allergist did a cat scan of DH’s face (he’d just acquired this “desktop” cat scanner) and found that DH had a polyp in one sinus that took up the entire sinus cavity. He also had a deviated septum. He referred DH to an ENT surgeon and DH had what was supposed to be in-patient surgery. DH wound up staying in the hospital for a couple of days and was on sick leave for a few more days. The polyp grew back last year, so DH had another operation to remove it which didn’t require a hospital stay. Since then, he’s been going to the ENT surgeon every 6 months for checkups so they can take care of any new growths in the office. So far, so good.

DH also took a sleep study test about a dozen years ago and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. He got a CPAP machine and the quality of his life has improved dramatically. DH was initially reluctant to take the test (he thought it was a scam) until one of his friends told him how much better he was feeling since he got his CPAP machine. Before getting his CPAP machine, DH was constantly exhausted. If he wasn’t doing something that required his active participation, he’d nod off wherever he happened to be. After the first couple of nights with the CPAP machine, he said he couldn’t believe how well-rested he felt and that he wished he’d been tested years earlier.

Whatever is causing your problems, the first step is for you to have it diagnosed by a qualified physician. The 2 diagnoses I mentioned above have made a world of difference in DH’s life. He’s gone from feeling pretty miserable most of the time to pretty good almost all of the time. Good luck!

tsavorite · ‎03-09-2010

@SandPiper wrote:
@tsavorite Your issues sound so much like DH. He is always tired. No matter how much sleep he gets, he feels like he hasn’t slept at all. He needs to have a sleep study but with working so many hours he is putting it off. I keep telling him it’s his schedule, he tells me it’s not.

Anyway, about 12 years ago he was told he had a deviated septum and had the surgery. Not fun!!! The ENT told him it would help him sleep better. Well it didn't. But it did stop his snoring. For me that was a good thing.

I know I’m not much help but what I will do is pray for you. Hope you get to the bottom of this.

@SandPiperHi (waving)! Thanks for sharing...this is what concerns me also. I mean you go thur that surgery and you still don't sleep well! My youngest son had it done yrs ago and it was pretty awful...and he says it didn't really help him breath better.

According to my husband I do not snore....but he sleeps so soundly and deeply unless I fall asleep during the day and he's around that's the only feedback I get. My husband would snore so loudly....just horrible! I never could get sleep at all for yrs. I bought him one of those snore guard things called Pure Sleep in desperation and it worked. He wears it every night and sleeps fine. But I still can't stay asleep and wake up many times per night.

I do have some allergies...to a certain tree (forget the name) and dust mites. That was the reason I 1st went in about 1 1/2 ago. I use a OTC nasal spray for allergies the ENT told me to use.

My appt isn't until 9/11....first available. I am going to call the other sleep doc's offices here and see what they tell me. Perhaps I can get in to be seen and evaluated there sooner.

Edit: called local place here in town...they closed that location! bummer...oh well going to their other location...soonest available there is 8/23....at least I made some decisions to go see 2 different doc's to hopefully get to the bottom of this.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

@tsavorite

Just a quick note, on my way to ice skating. I have broken my nose 9 times, the most recent just a few weeks ago. I had surgery to correct the "deviated septum" years ago. Same reason you are having, could not breathe out of 1 side.

With each fracture it changed my ability to breathe through both sides. I have now just accepted the fact "that is what it is", and as long as I can get the oxygen I need for my vigorous skating and exercising, I am fine with a beat up nose.

Just read your thread title, not whole thread.

Gotta get going, later!

hckynut(john)

Alison Wonderland · ‎02-05-2018

If you get a Balloon Sinuplasty, no cartilage is removed. I would go to the ENT to get a second opinion and ask him to walk you through both procedures. That's what I did when I went to see one. My ENT said I had some blockage, but it was not a lot and he would recommend a Ballon Sinusplasty as an option, but he didn't think it was anything to rush because the blockage was not too bad.

I've got a lot of allergy issues going on now, but will be doing a sleep study after allergy season and the results of that will help me determine how I move forward. Most months I get restful sleep, but during bad allergy seasons, I wake up more exhausted than when I go to sleep. That's a sign of sleep apnea, but since I only have it seasonally, sleep apnea isn't a root cause problem for me.

I've had a few friends go through sinus surgery and it's helped them a great deal. One went with the balloon option (which terrifies me because you stay awake for that one) and the others went for the traditional surgery, which has a much longer recovery period.

I'm still putting my puzzle pieces together to get a complete picture and once I do, I'll have to look at all my options and weigh the odds and the costs.

tsavorite · ‎03-09-2010

@hckynut wrote:

@tsavorite

Just a quick note, on my way to ice skating. I have broken my nose 9 times, the most recent just a few weeks ago. I had surgery to correct the "deviated septum" years ago. Same reason you are having, could not breathe out of 1 side.

With each fracture it changed my ability to breathe through both sides. I have now just accepted the fact "that is what it is", and as long as I can get the oxygen I need for my vigorous skating and exercising, I am fine with a beat up nose.

Just read your thread title, not whole thread.

Gotta get going, later!

hckynut(john)

@hckynut Hello! just a question for you....do you have sleep apena? I have never broken my nose....but was hit in the nose (long story) when I was very young...swelled up huge and all that...never went to doctor. My nose looks straight and is rather small...but maybe that doesn't matter at all!